Dave Portnoy Launches Barstool Fund To Raise Money For Small Businesses Hurt By Pandemic Shutdown

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy rose to stardom by giving thousands of small restaurant owners a global audience through his pizza reviews. Now, he's giving back to small businesses of all kinds by setting up The Barstool Fund.

Billions Of Dollars Needed: On Thursday, Portnoy announced a new initiative to help support "as many people as we can." His decision to take matters into his own hands follows New York City's ruling that all restaurants must cease indoor dining.

"How do you expect these people to survive?" he said in a video. "How are restaurants going to survive? They are already on their last legs."

Portnoy said the only real solution is billions of dollars in relief for small business owners who could lose their entire livelihood through no fault of their own and he was challenged by Camping World CWH CEO and "The Profit" star Marcus Lemonis to do something about it.

Help Is On The Way: The Barstool Fund is looking to help entrepreneurs running any kind of small business that fit just two criteria:

• Business owners must still be paying all their employees.
• Detailed plans of what the money is needed for must be provided.

See Also: Dave Portnoy Explains The History Of 'One Bite' And His Favorite Pizza Joints

How To Contact Portnoy: Business owners are encouraged to write an email to barstoolfund@barstoolsports.com.

Portnoy said the fund will start off with $500,000 and any business that qualifies will receive help through the end of the pandemic as opposed to just a one-time payment. Portnoy is crowdfunding donations to "save as many small businesses as we can."

"These people aren't going out of business because they aren't successful or not making money," Portnoy said. "It's because they have no other choice. They have been dealt a hand nobody can play."